Talk Doggy to Me by Maggie Shayne

Author:Maggie Shayne [Shayne, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thunderfoot Publishing, Inc.

When Jay returned to the living room with two slices of the requested cheesecake, complete with raspberry topping, whipped cream and two freshly brewed cups of coffee–Dunkin' Donuts brand, nice and strong–he found Macy sitting on the floor between the two dogs. Fred sat against her right side, and her arm was around him. The bloodhound was still lying down, but his head was in Macy's lap, and he was awake.

"You get anywhere with him?" he asked, lowering the tray to the coffee table and unloading it there.

"Yep. Damn, that looks good. Excuse me, guys." She eased the hound's head off her lap and got up, came to the couch and sat down, immediately claiming a dessert plate and fork. She took her first bite, closed her eyes, and said "Mmmmm." Then she licked her lips.

Fred was shooting daggers.

"Pack leaders eat first, pal. It's the way of the wild. Deal with it."

Fred sighed, and lay down near the bloodhound. Jay fought down the surreal feeling that he'd just witnessed a conversation between his dogs and his girlfriend, and tried to focus on his own dessert.

She took another bite, then set the plate down and tried the coffee. Again, she closed her eyes. "Perfect," she said.

"Yeah."

She sent him an odd smile, reclaimed her cheesecake, and said, "His name is Henry."

"Henry?"

As soon as he said it, more loudly than she had, the bloodhound lifted his head and released a deep "woof!”

"Well, I'll be–"

"He lived with an old man for a long, long time. He doesn't think of him by any name, and I suspect that's because they were mostly loners, just the two of them. There was never anyone around calling the man by a name, so Henry never associated a name with him. They were walking in the park one day when the old man just keeled over. Henry tried licking his face, then resorted to baying for help. Then so many people came around that he got scared and backed off to watch. The sirens came next, and those really hurt his ears, so he hid. When everything was quiet again, he came out to investigate, but the old man was gone."

"Wait a minute…that happened just four days ago. An old man collapsed in the park–I remember the call."

She nodded. "Did he make it?"

"No. He was DOA. Heart just gave out."

She looked sad for a moment. "He followed the old man's scent to the hospital–you know a bloodhound has a nose like nothing else alive. He could smell him, even though the old fellow was in the back of an ambulance. Anyway, he waited outside the hospital through one long night, and that's where he was found. He's been at Sally's–uh, at the animal shelter, that is–since then. I hadn’t had a chance to visit with him yet, or I’d have recognized him as soon as I saw him.”

He nodded. "No wonder he looks so sad."

"He likes you. Likes this place. He misses his friend, but he's already feeling loads better.

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